Islington Street store closes; owner not talking

PORTSMOUTH — It's been almost two weeks since an Islington Street convenience store was closed and the windows were boarded up, but the building owner isn't talking about what happened, or what the future holds for the property, which is located in the city's Historic District.

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By Elizabeth Dinan

seacoastonline.com

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Mar. 26, 2013 at 4:14 PM
Updated Mar 26, 2013 at 4:19 PM

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Mar. 26, 2013 at 4:14 PM
Updated Mar 26, 2013 at 4:19 PM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — It's been almost two weeks since an Islington Street convenience store was closed and the windows were boarded up, but the building owner isn't talking about what happened, or what the future holds for the property, which is located in the city's Historic District.

Sam's Food Store, formerly a Store 24, then a Tedeschi's Food Store, remains closed with plywood hammered over the windows. According to city assessing records, the 642 Islington St. property is owned by Naeem Khalid, who bought it on March 29, 2012 for $275,000.

The building and land are currently assessed for $438,800.

Khalid, who lives and works in Connecticut, said Monday that a business partner manages the Portsmouth property and that he'd have that associate contact Seacoast Media Group with updated information about the local real estate. That associate has not returned the message and on Tuesday Khalid said he had no information about the business closing.

John Gendron, a Maine real estate broker, is named in an online real estate listing for the property as the contact person to lease the store. When asked Tuesday if the listing is current, Gendron said, “You really need to talk to the owners.”

Public records show Khalid is the owner of more than 100 convenience stores throughout New England under the names of Sam's Food Stores, Smoker's Discount World, D B Mart and Chucky's.